Naoki Sakai creates original, functional iron utensils for the Japanese Way of Tea (chanoyu or tea ceremony) that are appropriate for a contemporary lifestyle.

Through chanoyu, he hopes to bring people together and enrich their daily lives with a unique Japanese sense of beauty.


Naoki SAKAI

  Metal Work・Kanazawa & Yamagata

  • Artist's Story

    Metalwork Artist

    Concept: Humanity has sought not only “utility” in craft, but also “beauty.”

    In response to this demand for beauty, makers discover the joy of making. This relationship has nurtured a high artistic spirit that connects “people” and “things.” As a creator, Sakai feels profound joy in working within such an environment.

    Born in Gunma Prefecture in 1973. Sakai completed the doctoral program in the Metalwork (Tankin) at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, in 2003, receiving his Ph.D. He undertook technical training at the Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo from 2005 to 2008, and studied under chaser and Important Intangible Cultural Property holder (Living National Treasure) Mamoru Nakagawa from 2008 to 2018.

    After serving as a specialist at Kanazawa Utatsuyama Kogei Kobo from 2013 to 2018, he became Associate Professor in the Department of Craft Design at Tohoku University of Art & Design in 2019.

    Among his many honors are the Nomura Art Prize (2003), the Sato Chikuyo Prize from the Japan Kogei Association (2012), the Grand Prix and METI Minister’s Prize at the Tableware Grand Prix (2016), the Asahi Shimbun Prize at the Japan Traditional Art Crafts Metalwork Exhibition (2017), and the Grand Prize at the tea-room design competition for the Humboldt Forum in Berlin (2018).

    He has also received the Kanazawa City Culture Activity Award (2021), the “Creating Tradition” Prize (2022), and the Pola Traditional Culture Encouragement Prize (2024). Solo and group exhibitions in Japan and abroad include the Kanazawa World Craft Triennale (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa), Art Fair Tokyo, the Cheongju International Craft Biennale, and “150 Years of Japonisme” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

  • About the Craft